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Stars perform gigs in charity shop to launch Oxjam Festival

Next week, stars including Fatboy Slim, The Kooks, Jarvis Cocker and Jamelia will launch the month-long Oxjam music festival with a series of exclusive performances in a specially-converted Oxfam shop in east London.

The charity shop gigs have become the hottest tickets in town, with Oxfam receiving almost 10,000 applications for tickets to the tiny 200-capacity venue, which will host some of the most intimate gigs ever played by stars like Fatboy Slim.

As part of the Oxjam launch, Jarvis Cocker, Kaiser Chiefs, Chemical Brothers, Hard-Fi and The Pigeon Detectives have also designed exclusive badges for the festival. The limited-edition items, sporting artwork created by the bands themselves, will only be available from Oxjam events around the country during October.

Jarvis Cocker, who will be performing a DJ set using records from charity shops on 1 October, said:
“I’ve been a regular visitor to this Oxfam shop myself in the past, so I’ve decided to play a set using records I’ve bought at charity shops over the years. October used to mean the end of the festival season, but these shows mark the beginning of Oxjam: a month of music where every note played takes a step towards fighting poverty.”

Fatboy Slim, who will bring the launch events to a climax on 4 October, said:
“I have always donated my unwanted records to my local Oxfam shop, but performing in one will be a first for me, so I’m really looking forward to it. It also shows that all you need to make an Oxjam event happen is a set of decks, a few choice tunes and a place to play them, so there’s really no excuse not to get involved.”

The Oxfam shop in Dalston, east London will become an Oxjam shop for the week, selling the best second-hand music in London during the day, as well as celebrity memorabilia from the likes of Elton John, Corinne Bailey Rae and Goldfrapp. During the evening, it will be converted into a gig venue, playing host to these intimate performances in front of a select audience of competition winners.

Kooks singer Luke Pritchard, who performs on the opening night, said:
“Oxjam is all about thousands of small events adding up to something much bigger, so it’s great to join in by playing a small acoustic show. Music fans can get involved throughout October by going along to a local Oxjam night.”

The charity shop gigs officially launch the Oxjam month of music, in which around 40,000 musicians and an audience of 300,000 are expected to take part, making it the biggest music festival ever in the UK.

The unique celebrity badges will also raise money to help fight poverty. Available for a suggested donation of Â£1 at thousands of events all over the UK, proceeds will go towards Oxjam’s overall target of raising Â£1 million to fight poverty around the world. Each badge also comes on a card with a competition to win a VIP trip to the MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich.

Ed Simons from the Chemical Brothers said:
“We wanted to do something a bit different for Oxjam this year, so we remixed our album artwork to create a unique bit of Chemical Brothers memorabilia. We hope it helps spread the word about Oxfam’s fight against poverty.”

Oxjam is a festival with a difference: thousands of events put on by music lovers â€“ from large-scale festivals to local sponsored busks â€“ during October will produce the equivalent of 500 days of continuous music, all raising money to fight poverty around the world. Last year, around 20,000 music lovers took part in 1,100 music events, and the festival generated Â£500,000 for Oxfam.

The target of Â£1 million from Oxjam this year would be enough to provide safe water for almost 1.4 million people, 20,000 emergency shelters or essential medicines for 10,000 villages.

The audience for the Oxjam launch shows is made up of competition winners, so no tickets will be available on the door.

To find out what Oxjam events are going on in your area this October, visit oxfam.org.uk/oxjam or call 0870 905 9060.

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